


Things That Matter

by Jitter, SiriuslySmart



Series: A Chicago Loop [2]
Category: The Dresden Files - All Media Types, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Angst, Cute Ending, Cute Kids, Fluff, Gen, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-30
Updated: 2014-09-30
Packaged: 2018-02-19 09:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2383562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jitter/pseuds/Jitter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriuslySmart/pseuds/SiriuslySmart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><br/>Harry and Maggie meet Elaine for a lazy Sunday</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things That Matter

**Author's Note:**

> Co-authored with AskElaine.tumblr.com I wrote Harry's parts and she wrote Elaine's. We both wrote Maggie

It had been difficult, at first, getting used to using the Ways again, but Elaine soon found herself coming to and from Chicago as though she had been born in the Nevernever. Which she hadn’t, as far as she knew.

She’d kept her promise to stay in touch with Harry quite a few times since it had been made a few months ago, and today had just been another routine check-in. She’d used the phone at Mac’s to call him at the number he’d left - “ _his name’s Thomas, he’s my … friend,”_ Harry had said - and been told that Harry had plans for the day. Before she’d had a chance to leave again, though, Mac had called her back over to the bar.

Harry had received her message, it seemed, and said she was welcome to accompany him on his day out, if she wanted to. Which would usually have been no cause for concern, except that  _this_ day out was a particularly special one.

He’d asked her to meet him at the park they often visited together, not far from the bar, and he’d pick her up on the way to the house. Which was how Elaine came to be sitting here, now, shivering slightly in the breeze, watching the orange and red leaves float to the ground, a tight knot in her stomach.

_Do you want to meet Maggie, Elaine?_

Hell’s bells, but she was nervous.

"Hey you." Harry said as he approached her and pressed a kiss on her hair, "I hope we're not too late.

He was holding a girl by the hand, tall and lanky like her father, her dark hair braided in the style of the new Disney princess. She wore jeans and a t-shirt like Harry, only she had a pink cardigan over hers. Of course. Cold didn’t bother Harry anymore.

"Maggie, this is Elaine." he said squatting down to get at her eye level, "She’s one of my oldest friends."

"Harry," Elaine greeted, her voice warm, more pleased to see him than she’d even expected to be. She returned his kiss with one of her own, to his cheek, then took a step back while he crouched down to speak to the child.

"Hi." Maggie said in a small voice. She was obviously very shy, as she clung on Harry, studying Elaine, trying to take in as much as she could before she started staring. Which would be rude.

What a beautiful child, was Elaine’s first thought. Her dark hair was glossy, her skin tinted with the suggestion of her mother, and her eyes … huge and intelligent and lovely. Elaine had to stifle a smile as she considered how this would translate into the girl’s teenage years, and how Harry would react when he realised.

"Hi," Elaine replied back gently, giving the girl a smile. "I like your cardigan. I used to have one just like that. I hope you don’t mind if I tag along with you two today?"

"Thanks." Maggie replied and then shook her head, "If you’re dad’s friend you must be cool," she allowed a small smile, "But I don’t wanna do grown up stuff."

Harry laughed and stood up again taking Maggie’s hand,

"No grown up stuff." he promised, "Just fun and games. Right Elaine?"

Elaine nodded solemnly. “Of course,” she said. “I think if we ask nicely enough, we can convince your dad to take us to a movie, huh? I heard they’re showing that new one at the drive-in later today.”

She flashed a smile at Harry, finally looking away from the kid. “What do you say, Harry? Ready to treat us ladies to a fun day out?”

"I wanted to see ‘Frozen’ again." Maggie told Elaine, frowning, "but dad says he’s sick of Ice Queens. And he didn’t want to watch the ‘Pirate Fairy’ either. Cause it’s about fairies." Maggie didn’t exactly glare at Harry but there was a bit of disappointment in her voice. "So I asked if I could watch the new space one with the talking tree and the racoon." She looked at Harry daring him to argue that she was too young.

"Okay Magster," Harry smiled looking at Elaine winking at her, "I was thinking ice-cream first though. I booked us seats on one of the boat cafes that tour the lake. Would you ladies like that?"

"I think that would be an okay start," Elaine said, with the air of someone conceding with some effort. She grinned at Maggie, then said, "Shall we go?"

The three started walking, and Elaine fell into step at the other side of Maggie, so that she would be able to communicate with either should she need to.  She smiled to herself as they walked. It felt nice.

"So you liked _Frozen_ , Maggie?” she asked. “It was one of my favourites. Kristoff reminded me a lot of someone I know.” She glanced over Maggie’s head, to where her father was walking, a small smirk playing on her lips.

Harry snorted when he saw Elaine’s smirk.

"Well, the sled that caught _fire_ wasn’t his fault.” Harry said  as Maggie turned to speak to Elaine.

"I did." she nodded, "The story was… Well, there were some bad things in the story that I didn’t like but it was very pretty and funny and I liked the songs. And I wish I could do pretty ice magic like Elsa."

"I loved the songs, too," Elaine told her, smiling. "And even the bad things weren’t so bad, really, because they had to happen to show that the good guys could beat them, right?"

She held in the little laugh that formed when Maggie talked about doing magic. “Really?” she said . “Sure, Elsa’s magic is pretty, but magic would be a  _lot_ of responsibility. It’s the kind of thing that would end up getting you into more trouble than it was worth.”

Elaine’s brain caught up with her mouth and she shook her head. _Honestly, Elaine. Now is not the time for that._

Up ahead, Elaine spotted the water and grinned. “I think we’re nearing our destination, folks,” she said.

"Dad can do magic." Maggie said simply, looking up at Harry, "I might can as well." she added.

Harry’s lips were pressed together firmly and he used his mental link to Elaine.

_I really hope she gets magic. It’s really selfish of me really. If she gets magic I get to die before her._

_You’re something else, Harry Dresden,_ Elaine thought back, with no particular inflection. Let him think what he pleased about the response.

"Want to know something, Maggie?" she confided, with the air of someone passing on a huge secret. She remembered that kids liked that sort of thing. "I can do magic too, but I’m not very good at ice magic. And some of the coolest people I know can’t do magic at all. Don’t worry about it too much. I’m sure whatever your special talent turns out to be, it’ll be awesome."

 _You are an angel._ Harry transmitted over the link when Elaine so smoothly reassured  his daughter.

It was so much easier to simply admit things like what he had said about Maggie by the mental link. He would never have dared utter those words out loud. He squeezed Maggie’s hand harder and smiled at the child. “I think I’m going to have two scoops of strawberry cheesecake and rocky road.”

Elaine smiled at Harry's ice cream choice. “I haven’t had ice cream in a long time,” she admitted. “What would you two suggest?”

Maggie had forgotten all about spells and magic as soon as ice cream was mentioned.

"I love ice cream, how can you have gone a long time without it? We need to fix that!" she told Elaine, "Dad, sometimes lets me eat ice cream when it’s cold, we don’t tell Mrs. Carpenter though."

Harry burst out laughing, “It’s not a secret if you tell everyone, kiddo.” he said, his eyes drinking in the sight of his child a wide smile plastered on his face.

"I’m gonna have chocolate and peanut brittle and strawberry and cookies with a cherry on top." Maggie announced. "And sprinkles."

"That’s an awful lot of flavours," Elaine laughed. "Maybe I’ll just stick to something plain, huh? Get me used to it again."

It was adorable, how mortally offended the child apparently was with the idea of someone not having eaten ice cream in a while. The mention of ‘Mrs. Carpenter’ connected a few dots in Elaine’s map of what was going on, and she felt a little more assured about the whole situation.

Maggie ran on ahead a little, clearly drawn by the idea of the sweet treats that waited on her, and Elaine watched her go, enjoying the happiness in her expression and in her movement.

"She looks like you," she said quietly, moving closer to the space next to Harry that Maggie had vacated while the two adults tried to catch up. "She has the same smile."

Harry  gave her a small glance before his eyes returned to Maggie who was running happily on the pavement in front of them, dancing as ten year olds do.

"She’s a lot like her mother was as well." he said softly, "She’s a remarkable kid. Not because she’s mine. She makes everyone love her."

He turned to look at her again, longer this time, “Thank you for being so nice to her.”

Elaine snorted. “Harry, please. I’m nice to kids her age for a living. Well. I don’t get paid for it, so I don’t suppose it really counts as  _a living.”_

She smiled at him as Maggie reached the loading dock and spun round. Even from this distance, the look of exasperation on the girl’s face when she saw how far back her father and his friend were was clear. “And … she’s charming. Easy to talk to. Bit like someone else I know, if a little shorter.”

"Come  _ooooon,_ " Maggie called over to them as they got within hearing distance. Elaine laughed. Her shyness hadn’t lasted very long.

"Catch me slowpoke." Harry teased Elaine and started running to Maggie.

Just another dad with his kid on a lazy Sunday.

He caught her when he reached her and picked her up as if she was weightless and started tickling her hard, making Maggie thrash and giggle and punch her father’s shoulders with little fists.

"Who’s an impatient little girl?" he asked as he tickled her mercilessly, her face growing too red as she burst out in another gout of laughter.

Elaine caught up just in time to see Maggie playfully try - and fail - to slap her father away as he tickled her into oblivion. The people on the dock were chuckling, and Elaine herself was smiling more broadly than she had in a while. It had been a  _long_ time since she’d seen Harry so happy … and there was something so  _nice_ about family.

It suited him being a father.

She wondered if she’d ever be a mother, then stopped that train of thought before it lead to the inevitable wistful thought process that she just didn’t want to deal with today. Or ever.

After she let some time pass, she said, “Guys. I think we’re holding up the line.”

  
They got on the boat, - Harry paid, _of course_ \- and were seated to the very back (away from the engines) having a pretty great view of the lake as the boat started moving. Maggie made good of her promise and got a huge sundae and Harry even got their waitress to put a sparkler on it as well. It made the little girl ecstatic.

"I never told you how it went with Karrin." Harry said a while after they had finished with their ice-cream and Maggie was busy hanging over the rail watching the wake of the boat. "Do you still want to hear about it?"

Elaine watched the kid play on the deck, smiling as Maggie crowed with delight when a little spray hit her face.

At Harry’s question, she turned back to him and stared,suddenly filled with a different kind of interest. “Tell me,” she said softly, trying to keep the absurd excitement out of her voice. 

Harry signaled to their waitress and politely asked for two beers and a lemonade for Maggie and played with the label on the beer bottle for a while before talking again.

"I went to her place when you left that night but she wasn’t there and I tried to catch her after physio a few times but— Well long story short I just managed to find her three nights ago. She spent a lot of time at her mom’s. Her kid sister just had a baby and uh her sister’s husband is also Karrin’s ex-husband so she wasn’t really in the best of moods."

Elaine nodded in thanks for the beer, and listened to what he had to say. When he was finished, she blinked at him a few times, then burst into laughter. From the side of the boat, Maggie looked round. Elaine waved, and the kid grinned and went back to what she’d been doing.

"Stars and stones, that sounds like a situation and a half," Elaine said, choking down the laughter as much as she could. "So did you say anything after all that?"

"No…" he said but a small smile broke on his face as he looked over at Maggie. "She didn’t want to talk about anything, she was rather adamant about it."

His eyes sparkled as he grinned widely, “We did all the talking the morning after.”

Elaine blinked and then opened her mouth to speak. After half a second, she thought better of it, and changed the expression into a wide grin, lifting her beer bottle in a gesture of salute.

"How’d that go?" she asked laconically, placing the bottle back on the table, rearranging her features into those of only mild interest.

"I am not usually one to kiss and tell," he said trying hard to conceal his grin, "but let’s just say that I didn’t see much sun for two days." he drank from his beer and reclined back, closing his eyes in bliss, golden evening light hitting on his eyelids.

"She says she’s not my girlfriend. As I said she would. She doesn’t like the term." he opened his eyes a bit and smiled at Elaine, "But we’re an item."

Elaine took a sip of her own beer, smiling. “Congratulations,” she said, her voice more soft than she thought it would be. She was surprised at how happy the news made her. She’d expected jealousy, or bitterness, or something.

But no.

It was nice.

"Does the kid know yet?" she asked him, glancing over at Maggie.

"Not yet." Harry said his eyes following Maggie as she jumped around in the spray. "I mean, she’s met Karrin a few times and they seem to like each other but I haven’t had time to tell anyone really." Harry took a sip from his beer. "I want them to meet properly without haste and while I’m not on a job though."

Elaine’s lips twitched, but she managed to conceal the actual grin. “Good luck with that,” she said, keeping her tone free of inflection.

She raised an eyebrow as Maggie turned and smiled at them, beginning to make her way back over again. Maybe she wanted some lemonade. “Should I be honoured that I’m meeting your kid properly before your girlfriend is?” she asked, then held up a hand before he could respond. “Not girlriend. Whatever word you use. Your Karrin.”

She kept her voice low, but she wasn’t really that afraid of being overheard. Maggie was taking her sweet time making her way across the deck, stopping to chat to some of the other kids running about every few steps.

"Huh? Oh…" Harry was distracted, making sure Maggie would come their way and not get distracted and run away to the other side of the crowded boat. He smiled at Elaine, "Well, you are practically family, Elaine. I wanted her to know you and it’s not a matter about who meets her first, really."

"Karrin got a new job, her schedule is hectic at best but I have started looking for a place to live with my kid. There will be plenty of time for Karrin to get to know her."

Elaine smiled, and went to make a reply, but before she could Maggie was at the table again, looking more excited about lemonade than anyone Elaine had ever seen in her life.

"Hi!" Maggie said, once she’d finally had her fill of juice. The expression on her face was animated, excited. "I’m pretty sure I saw a mermaid down there. Have you ever seen a mermaid, Elaine?"

"I, uh, have, actually," Elaine replied, with a grin at the child and a glance at Harry. She was  _pretty_ sure that Maggie hadn’t  _actually_ seen a mermaid, but … well, at this point it wouldn’t exactly be surprising, either.

"We have discussed mermaids with Maggie." Harry nodded, "She knows we should not talk to them because they are not friendly like Ariel."

"Yeah, they are like Ursulas. But they are so pretty." said Maggie chewing on her straw and trying to get an icecube from her glass.

Harry smiled at Maggie giving her the thumbs up and then thought over to Elaine.

_There are mermaids in Lake Michigan. Unseelie. Not fun._

Elaine raised an eyebrow, but really she was hardly surprised. It was just a little difficult … getting used to the openness, perhaps. She’d lived a long life of secrets, and it had started out with lying to children and keeping things from them. From her. It wasn’t easy to adjust so suddenly.

But she wasn’t complaining.

When Harry communicated about the mermaids, she frowned.  _You’re kidding?_ she thought back. Then a tiny shake of her head. Of course he wasn’t kidding. She imagined those mermaids were a lot more unpleasant than the ones  _she’d_ met.

 _I gather you met the Seelie_ _kind?_ Harry asked a smile playing in his eyes.

 _Yeah,_ Elaine thought back, grinning a wicked little grin, _And let me tell you, the lack of a bottom gives them_ plenty  _of time to practice with the top half._

_ Harry’s eyes widened and his cheeks flushed immediately at that about mermaids and he sent back, _

_Hell’s Bells, Elaine, you—_

_ He started laughing. That was too absurd to think.  _ _Hell’s fucking Bells._

  
  


Elaine gave him a challenging grin at his aborted expression of shock, and added,  _If you want I can tell you more later, but I think even_ thinking  _about it in front of he kid would be a moral wrong._

 _Yeah please don’t start mind-boggling me with interspecies mer-sex in front of my kid_ he sent, with an amused inflection .

Elaine snorted. The idea of sixteen-year-old Harry Dresden being able to handle even thinking the words “interspecies mer-sex” was just too funny. And too …  _wrong._

"You really like Disney movies then, Maggie?" she asked ignoring Harry. "You know, me and your dad went to see  _The Little Mermaid_ at a drive-in, not long after it was released. It’s still one of my favourites.”

She smiled slightly at the memory. It had been a drive-in, but, being fifteen, neither was able to drive. Undaunted by this, young, in love, and enjoying the rare moment of freedom, they’d gone anyway, on one of the few real dates they ever managed. Of course, neither of them had spent much time watching the movie, for the same reasons as above, but Maggie hardly needed to know that.

At the mention of the drive-in a huge grin spread on Harry's face. “Yeah, I can’t say I remember much about that film.” he said goofily.

The memory was nice, he could almost taste the popcorn and the smuggled beers they had acquired from a more or less shady classmate — was it George? Jim? They had lounged at the hood of a parked but empty Chevy and Harry remembered Elaine bursting out laughing when the song “Kiss the Girl” had started in the movie because harry was doing just that. He had treasured that memory for years to come.

The beating he had received for both of them from Justin -because he just would NOT allow him raise a hand on Elaine even if it was for his life - for sneaking out was another matter. He shoved that away but it showed on his face.

She watched as Harry cycled through the memory, and saw as the less pleasant part appeared in his expression. Rather than saying - or thinking - anything, she slid her hand into his under the table, a comfortable, silent, reassurance that felt as natural as breathing.

Harry’s hand automatically curled around Elaine’s, the touch familiar and comforting and he felt his heart swell just like muscle memory. His aura knew Elaine’s touch meant only good things.

"My favourite is the one where they go underwater and find a city." Maggie said happily, "I watched that with Hank and Hobbit."

 _Her foster siblings._ Harry explained, the dark memories flushed away simply from the happiness on Maggie’s face.

Elaine smiled again at Maggie’s enthusiasm. “ _Atlantis,_ right? I haven’t seen that one.”

Maggie looked scandalised by the thought. “But you  _have_ to. Even my  _dad_ has seen it.”

"Well, maybe you can show me sometime," Elaine replied, her words coming out before her brain caught up again. She frowned a little to herself, but Maggie just nodded, grinning, and then turned to her father.

"Dad, I need another lemonade," she said. Then, as an afterthought, "Please."

"We’ll arrange watching Atlantis." Harry nodded, "And you can get another lemonade as long as you don’t tell Charity how much sugar I let you have, okay kid?"

He squeezed Elaine’s hand noticing her frown and his eyes focused on her.

_All good there?_

She watched as Harry agreed to his daughter’s demands, and found it oddly sweet, which, in turn, brought the tiny frown back. Stupid expressions.

 _I’m fine,_ she assured him. _This is just … nice._

Nicer than she’d expected, really. She smiled again and said, for Maggie’s benefit, “And what about that ice cream?”

"More ice cream?" Harry’s eyebrows shot to the roots of his hair, "I think this is where I have to cleverly disguise myself as a responsible adult and draw the line." he smiled. "And the boat seems to be returning to the dock anyway."

Maggie nodded and looked at Elaine, “So are you like, dad’s _special_ friend?”

 _What happened to you, Harry? You used to be fun,_ Elaine sent to him. 

Then Maggie asked her question and Elaine went still. She glanced at Harry - at his eyes, into his eyes, because she could  _do_ that with him - and then looked back at the little girl who was his daughter.

"I used to be," she said, and was surprised to find her throat was dry. She wasn’t sure if honesty was the best policy, but, hell, the kid deserved the truth. Or a version of it. "When we were younger, we were …  _special_ friends … but then your dad…”

_Then your dad killed our foster father and ran off with our magic skull and I didn’t hear from him for over a decade because he thought I was dead._

"Your dad had to go and learn how to be a wizard, and I … "

_I helped Justin, I nearly got Harry killed, I lost them both, I ran away from the world altogether. I lost everything. I lost me._

"… I went to live with faeries for a while," she finished, as lightly as she could manage. "Then me and your dad met again a long time later and now … well, now we’re …"

To her surprise, her words trailed off. Now they were what? She looked back at Harry again, a silent plea for him to finish her sentence.

Harry had gone equally still. He realized his hand was still tightly curled around Elaine’s and he retrieved it sheepishly, reaching for his beer.

He had thought about this many times through the years. How it would have been had he attempted to get back with Elaine, and it always amazed him how easily he slipped into that trail of thought.

She had been his everything. Sister, friend, lover, all rolled up in a bunch of fuzzy feelings whenever he thought of her. He could at any time close his eyes and see the sun reflecting in her hair, feel her lips, wet and puffy after their first kiss, remember how they had soulgazed as they joined themselves to each other for the first time.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as Elaine gave a fairytale-like version of their shitty lives and looked at him desperately to help her answer.

"Friends." Harry said simply, "The bestest best of friends." he told his kid. Maggie was delighted and her attention already elsewhere not aware of the anguish she had caused to both.

"Ohhh fairies? really? Dad doesn’t like fairies." she explained, sipping on her second lemonade, "He says they’re bullies and mean."

The tension that had coiled up at Maggie’s question released itself in a loud laugh at her comment about “bullies”.

"Does he now?" she asked, grinning. "Well, Maggie, there are lots of different types of faeries. There are little ones, who are usually quite nice - though not always, remember that. And there are big ones. The big ones can be  _really_ dangerous. And they’re in two teams.” Well, more than two, but there was no need to complicate it further. “And the team that your dad knows are scary and cold. The team that I know are much friendlier.”

She paused, drinking the last of her beer, her thoughts dwelling on her time with the Sidhe. On the awe she’d felt the first time and only time she saw Titania. On Aurora’s warmth. On Maeve’s twisted, bitter, existence.

But then, Aurora hadn’t been much better in the end, had she? And, from what Harry had said of the new Winter Lady …

"Well, sometimes there are good and bad people on both teams," she acknowledged. "Best to avoid most of them, really."

 _Titania is fuckin scary too. And a bully just like her sister._ Harry thought to her grumpily, _Fuck my life, hell’s bells._

"That’s right, shortcake. No deals with fairies. We don’t like them, we don’t talk to them. We don’t ask for stuff from them. Okay?"

"Okay!" Maggied nodded but she was delighted. She knew fairies were real no matter what her classmates said.

"So you mentioned wanting to go see a movie?" Harry asked Elaine, "Something about a talking dog?"

Maggie perked up at that, “I have a talking dog! His name is Mouse. We slayerise monsters together.”

"I think Maggie prefers talking raccoon," Elaine said, without missing a beat, as they walked towards the dock. "I haven’t seen it either, so that suits me."

She looked down at the kid as she spoke, raising one eyebrow in a perfect arc. When they stepped onto the dock, she paused and crouched so that she could look the girl in the face - though not in the eye. “Kid,” she said, as frankly as possible, holding in the laugh. “I have literally no idea how serious you’re being right now. Have you really been slayerising monsters? Because if so…”

Well, if so, she wouldn’t actually be surprised.

"…and can Mouse actually talk?"

That wouldn’t surprise her either.

Harry had stopped dead in his tracks at that as well. He had heard about the ‘slayerising’ before but dismissed it in hope of it being just another pretend play of a ten year old. But…she talked with Mouse?

_I’ve heard him speak once_ . he  sent , _but I kinda was also a dog when that happened._ he raised his hands  _Don’t ask._

"Maggie," Harry asked carefully, "How is Mouse talking to you?"

The girl seemed to struggle to answer for a moment then pointed at her temples, “He talks here.” she explained, “And I can talk to him too. He helps me when I have a pop quiz and—” she looked horrified at her confession of cheating but Harry was too stunned to be bothered by that.

Maggie…a psychomancer?

"Let’s go watch that film with the Raccoon." he said carefully glancing at Elaine, "And you can tell us more in the car, shall we, Maggie?"

Elaine straightened up, trying not to stare at the child in front of her at the explanation. 

Maggie looked unperturbed as she nodded. “Race you to the car!” she said, mostly, Elaine thought, to her, before turning and hurrying back in the direction they came.

Elaine waited until the girl was a few paces ahead - though still well within sighting distance - before speaking.

"I take it, then, that’s not a power your dog has in his own right," she said dryly, falling into step next to Harry. 

"Hell’s bells, no." he said his mouth still hanging open in surprise. "I heard him talk once but Lea had me turned into a hound at the time. I think he spoke fluent Dog. Never thought he could speak English." He thought for a while, “Unless Maggie speaks Dog. But she’s communicating telepathically. That is huge. That—” he stopped dead on his track. “Hell’s Bells that’s the first sign of power she has demonstrated.”

"You are both slowpokes!" Maggie yelled at them from the car. Harry just walked over studying her intently.

 _Relax, Harry. It’s not like she’s not in good company for it,_ Elaine silently thought at him as she reached the car.

"Sorry, Maggie," she said. "Guess we just can’t beat you."

"I thought you were supposed to be  _magic!”_

"I thought  _you_ were supposed to be shy,” Elaine said lightly, used to this kind of interaction. This was her day job, after all.

Despite her faux-annoyance, Maggie laughed as they got into the car. “I don’t need to be shy around you,” she said. “My dad trusts you.”

Elaine felt herself smile in response. “Oh? How do you know that?”

"Because you two keep talking to each other like me and Mouse do," Maggie replied, clipping in her seatbelt. When she saw Elaine’s frozen look in the rearview mirror, she added, "I can’t  _hear_ you, silly. I just know. Duh.”

"Duh," Elaine repeated, looking sideways at Harry, failing to keep the neutral expression she’d hoped for.

"Hell’s Bells." Harry repeated his eyes staring at his child through the mirror then glancing at Elaine. "I—"

He didn’t know what to say, his insides had frozen. He’d have to have Maggie apprenticed soon. Preferably the fuck away from the White Council… He wasn’t sure he wanted to teach her himself, not sure if he would be able to be as strict as he’d need to be in order to really help her learn.

And then he suddenly remembered Thomas saying his iPod had broken out of nowhere. Harry had sworn he had never touched it, not even seen it to be precise.

"Maggie," he asked, "Did you take Thomas’s iPod last week?"

"No!" Maggie said, a trifle too quickly.

Elaine turned in her seat as best she could to look at the girl, all-but-meeting her eyes. “Maggie, did you take that iPod? You’ll only be in trouble if you don’t tell the truth. I’m sure Mr and Mrs Carpenter have told you that.”

Maggie looked away. “…no,” she said again, though less convinced. “ _Mouse_ wanted to listen to music. I just helped him. We didn’t  _mean_ to break it, I promise. Was Thomas mad? I’m really sorry, Dad, I don’t know what happened! Mouse said—”

She rattled on and on in a similar manner, and Elaine turned back to face the front of the car.  _What happens now?_ she thought.  _Not to point out the obvious, but this timing is terrible._

_Oh shit I_ _ shouldn't _ _have started this discussion in the car. She gets panic attacks after Mexico._

He thought at Elaine. He unclipped his seat-belt and climbed in the back seat as well as he could, given that he didn’t exactly fit there.

"Hey, Mags." he said cupping his daughter’s chin, "Look at me kid, it’s okay." Undoing Maggie’s seat-belt as well and pulled her into a hug. "It’s okay about the iPod we’ll buy a new one to Thomas, okay?"

Maggie seemed to calm down with the hug and Harry’s soothing tone. He had seen his little girl panic like that more often than he’d like to admit and it still made him wanna hunt down and kill every single Red Court Vampire. Again.

"Maggie," Harry said steadily, looking at Elaine for reassurance, "I think you might be magic as well."

Maggie stared up at her father, her eyelashes wet, her expression uncomprehending. She looked back and forth between the two adults, as though she suspected someone was playing a joke on her.

"Like I said earlier," Elaine said, adding her voice to the soothing tones of Harry’s. "Whatever gift you’ve got, you’re special. And it looks like you might be different from me  _and_ your dad. Isn’t that great?”

Maggie turned her gaze to face Elaine’s seat, not looking convinced. “Because I can talk to Mouse?”

"Yeah," Elaine replied. "Just like me and my dad can talk, except even cooler because you get  _Mouse._ Neither of us can do that.”

"Really?" Maggie asked, glancing back at her father, still looking uncertain. Then - "Will I have to go to Hogwarts?"

"Really," Harry nodded then started laughing when she mentioned Hogwarts, "No Hogwarts, but you might have to learn with another Wizard. Like your own personal Dumbledore." Harry offered. "The problem is, Mags, you have to stay away from electronics and…well, don’t look people in the eyes anymore, okay?"

"But Mrs. Carpenter says we should always look—"

"I’ll talk to Charity." Harry reassured her, "She knows about this, remember?"

Maggie nodded emphatically an unsure smile starting on her face.

"You did nothing wrong, kiddo." Harry shuffled her hair, "Now let’s go watch that movie."

_Hell’s Bells._

They drove along in silence for a while before Maggie spoke again, sounding much less upset, though still just as unsure.

"Did you have a Dumbledore?" she asked.

Elaine almost laughed, but choked it down. It would not have been a pleasant laugh, and she could feel the bitterness of it burning her throat. “Your dad did,” she said finally, settling on that as a non-answer. It was the truth. More or less. “I told you, after a while he went off to learn how to be a wizard.”

"But you’re a wizard too. Did you learn from the faeries?"

Elaine was silent for a long time before she answered. “Me and your dad, we’ve both had more than one teacher, and they weren’t always good. But you don’t have to worry, Maggie; your dad will find you someone  _amazing.”_

Maggie nodded seriously, seemingly content with that, but Elaine couldn’t help but wonder. Where, exactly, would he find this amazing teacher? In the Council? Hell, Elaine spent half her life getting kids  _away_ from those assholes at the moment, she couldn’t just let—

 _I could do it,_ she thought, before she had time to catch herself.

Harry was about to cast a thought at Elaine when she sent to him that she could be Maggie’s teacher. Relief washed over his face and he sent a thought back,

 _I was about to ask you exactly that._ He smiled at her. _I told you I don’t trust the council anymore. …and you can be Maggie’s McGonagall._

_Are you kidding? I’m not letting your kid anywhere near those assholes. They’d try to recruit her. No way. She was surprised by the intensity of her own response, and gave a small joke to temper it. You just want me around more. Shocking. You’re a taken man._ _ She smirked at him. _

_I do want you around more, I’ve missed you_ _ he sent back and poked his tongue out at her. _

"You are doing it again." Maggie said to her dad and Harry turned to look at her,

"I’m sorry?"

"You’re talking in your heads again."

"Uh yes sorry about that, kid." he smiled at her, "We will try not to do it that much, ok?"

Elaine had to bite back a laugh. “Sorry, Maggie,” she said, adding her own apology. “It’s a habit. Sometimes it’s the only way to get your dad to say something clever.”

"My dad is very clever!" Maggie said, and for a moment Elaine was worried that she’d said the wrong thing. Then the girl started to giggle. "Although he  _is_ silly sometimes,” she confided, as though Harry couldn’t plainly hear her. “Molly says so, too.”

"That’s very nice that all you ladies think I’m so dashing and brainless." Harry pouted, "Me Wizard. Very clever. Me good." he added as he pounded his chest with his fists.

Maggie started giggling and looked at Elaine, “See? So silly!”

"He’s always been like that, you know," Elaine continued. "Once, we went to the park together, and a squirrel jumped out from behind a bush. Your dad pushed me behind him and shouted about how  _I’ll protect you, Elaine!”_ She laughed at the memory. “I’ve never seen a squirrel look so scared in my life. It was  _very_ brave, though.”

She didn’t mention that the event had occurred after one of the most intense weeks they’d ever had at Justin’s. She didn’t feel it would  be particularly nice for Maggie to hear about that … and it would ruin the point of the story somewhat.

"In my defense it was a very big squirrel." he frowned, "And you totally squealed when it jumped at us."

He remembered that day, it had been the first relaxed breath of air they had managed to get after a whole week of Justin being unreasonably insufferable. They hadn’t even skipped school yet Harry had still ended up grounded and starved. Of course then he believed it built discipline, cause that was what Justin had told them. It had never even occurred to Harry back then that it had been child abuse.

He started the breathing exercises he had been working on to keep the Mantle steady as he could feel the boiling anger building up at the memory. The bastard was dead and he and Elaine had made it alright so far. They were alive and healthy and despite being Mab’s bitch Harry was happy for the first time in many years.

Elaine laid a hand on Harry’s arm, saying nothing. It wasn’t like she could read his thoughts - not at the moment, anyway - but she knew enough.

He realised he was sitting there in silence and forced a smile on his face, “Hey Maggie, I’m gonna get caramel pop-corn and a huge bag of pick n’ mix and you can have some of it too if you promise not to tell Charity how your dad is trying to make your teeth rot, okay?”

"Daddy, my teeth are  _great,_ " Maggie said patiently. "I will brush them twice tonight though, so she doesn’t know. It can be our secret, promise."

“You’re going to get on Mrs. Carpenter’s bad side with that attitude to dental hygiene, Harry,” she said lightly, trying to help him raise the mood.

"Were  _you_ allowed to eat lots of sugar when you were my age, Elaine?” Maggie asked.

Elaine intended to answer. She really did mean to give a little story, or a gentler version of the truth, but much like when Harry had told her his story last time they met, all that came out when she opened her mouth was a long, loud, borderline-hysterical laugh. “I … no, I wasn’t, Maggie,” she said, once she finally caught a breath. This kid and her innocent questions were going to be the death of her.

Maggie looked confused as the car pulled into park. “Why are you laughing? Daddy, what’s funny?”

"Maggie, remember when I told you we will get you your personal Dumbledore?" Harry asked her and she nodded emphatically, "Well, our Dumbledore turned out to be Severus Snape, only without actually redeeming himself in the end. In fact he went full on Voldemort on us. It wasn’t fun and daddy doesn’t like talking about back then much."

"But—" Maggie stared at his with wide eyes and turned to look at Elaine, "You and Elaine, you fought him off and saved the Wizarding world?"

That was enough to quell the laughter. Elaine wasn’t sure when she’d started with the hysterical laughter as a response to things that brought up those memories, but it sure as hell beat the panic attacks that they’d replaced.

"Your dad was the brave one," Elaine said, and her voice was softer now. She’d never actually spoken about this, not to anyone. Not even Aurora. Not Lena. Not that moment. It was  _hers._ But she could tell Maggie. “Our evil bad guy had me trapped, and he tried to get me to turn to the dark side, but your dad … your dad was  _strong,_ Maggie. He didn’t get trapped like me, and he beat the bad guy all on his own and freed me. Freed us both. It was  _…_ amazing.”

It was beautiful, it was awful. It was terrifying.

"Then because your dad was so strong, he got a new Dumbledore to help him train better, and I went and learned new, different magic, from faeries, so that I wouldn’t get trapped again."

Elaine blinked away the strain that arrived in her eyes as she told that story, but if Maggie noticed she didn’t say anything. The girl looked deep in thought, and, eventually, she said, “Didn’t you miss each other?”

"All the time," Elaine replied. Then she forced a smile. "But hey, it worked out. We both got cool new powers, and your dad got you, right? And here we all are."

It had helped him not miss her too much because he thought she had betrayed him as well as Justin. He had spent ten years thinking she was dead and that she had backstabbed him. When she had returned from Summer…

No. Harry shook his head. No, that was ages ago and Elaine had proved worthy of his trust a hundred times over.

"Daddy don’t be sad." Maggie said and he realised he was allowing himself to tear up. Maggie unbuckled her seatbelt to move to the front seat and give Harry a hug, then she considered it a moment and pulled Elaine into a hug too. "You are braver than Harry Potter. You would be in Gryffindor." she offered as if this was the biggest compliment in the world.

Elaine went still at the unexpected contact, and spent a moment just frozen, waiting for her brain to catch up with what was going on. After that, she leaned into the awkward leaning-over-the-brake hug as best she could, then said, “Thanks, kid,” and pulled away.

She coughed, trying to dislodge the roughness in her throat, and then said, “So how about that popcorn, huh?”

"Oh, yes, Daddy, let’s go get popcorn. It’ll make you feel better I  _promise.”_

They got caramel popcorn and buttered popcorn and almost a pound of pick n’ mix. Harry had blushed profusely when the ticket lady had asked him if he wanted the family package for the tickets and Maggie had interrupted and said, yes they would like the _cheaper_ family package, thank you very much.

The movie was good. They had made sure to sit very close to the screen so as to not fuck up the electronics located to the back of the theatre and Maggie had laughed a lot with Rocket Raccoon.

 _This is nice. She’s having so much fun._ Harry thought at Elaine, _It’s so good to see her smile._

 _It’s good to see_ you  _smile. You should make a habit of it._ Elaine thought back, keeping her eyes on the end credits. Maggie had stood to leave with most of the rest of the crowd until Elaine had pulled her back down by the back of the coat and told her to wait for the surprise. Elaine could feel the girl buzzing with anticipation beside her, and couldn’t help but smile herself,

_She’s a great kid._

"It’s  _rude_ to talk in a theatre,” Maggie said, still staring at the screen, and Elaine chuckled.

"Sorry, kid."

"Not rude if the movie’s over, Mags." Harry smiled ruffling his daughter’s hair.

"Movie’s not over until the post credit scene," Elaine said lightly, and at that moment it played, much to Maggie’s delight  - not that the kid understood the reference, but it was still sweet.

"I think Peter was too much like dad." Maggie observed, "And I want a dancing baby tree in a pot, can I have a dancing baby tree in a pot?"

"Oh I don’t know. Last time I met a moving tree it tried to tear me into ribbons."

 _Your old buddy sicced a plant construct on me._ he explained to Elaine. _Murph killed it with a chainsaw._

They stood as Maggie commented about the similarities between her father and the lead character, and then Harry made his silent comment about the tree monster.

_My old …_

Elaine pursed her lips. “So you enjoyed the movie, Maggie?” she asked. The girl looked up at her, looking concerned by her tone or expression or something, and Elaine smiled at her.

"Yeah," she said. "Daddy, you’re being silly. Groot would never tear  _anyone_ to ribbons.”

"Groot wouldn’t." he agreed. "Alright, Maggie, if you can find me somewhere to buy you a baby Groot, I will."

Which of course led to Maggie promptly dragging them to the souvenir store by the theatre where she was very disappointed to find there were no actual baby trees to buy and had to settle for a Rocket plushie and to Harry’s dismay a Queen ~~Mab~~ Elsa doll.

He picked a Tinkerbell keychain from a rack and held it in front of Elaine, laughing, “Want one?”

"Angry fae with jealousy issues aren’t really my thing," Elaine replied shortly.

"Hm yeah, angry fae with jealousy issues seem to be my kind of thing lately, don’t they?" he mused putting the keychain back on the shelf.

"I think I’ll buy an Elsa keychain for me just to annoy Mab. She was really pissed when that film came out. Molly says she complained for days after she watched it and we both think it might have been a special eff you to her from Titania." he stared at the keychain and made it twirl as he looked at Maggie, "Although it did work on Winter’s favour. Everyone loves the Winter Queen now." he groaned.

Elaine turned back to Maggie, who was admiring her new doll. "She’s lovely, Maggie," she said, quite obviously cutting her other conversation away.

"Isn’t she?" Maggie replied excitedly. She pressed at its hand and the doll began to sing. Elaine frowned, wondering how long  _that_ mechanism would last in Maggie’s hands, but deciding not to comment. “Do you think my Dumbledore will teach me ice magic like Elsa?”

"I think your Dumbledore will help you with  _your_ magic,” Elaine replied. She pointed to the Rocket plushie in the girl’s backpack. “I mean, you can talk to  _animals._ How cool is that?”

"Super cool!" Maggie said, her eyes shining, clearly caught up in the moment, and Elaine smiled despite her annoyance at the -  woefully unaware - Harry.

_You okay?_

He cast the thought before realising he had done so. Something had shifted in Elaine’s posture and he was almost sure something was bothering her.

"Fine," Elaine replied, accidentally speaking out loud in her irritation. Maggie looked up at her in surprise, and then looked at her father.

"I’m gonna go look at some of the other toys," the girl said, walking away to the other end of the store.

Elaine watched her go - Maggie remained in eyesight at all times, browsing the stuffed toys from _Monster’s Inc._ \- and then folded her arms across her chest.

 _Just because she was crazy and had to go down doesn’t mean you can talk about her like that_ , she thought, remembering to speak silently this time. She didn’t give any further context. He could work it out for himself.

Harry blinked and let go of the toy he was checking out, - a bullyland figure of a Wizard, an obvious imitation of Gandalf the grey.

"What? Is that— Hell’s bells, Elaine I’m sorry, I didn’t think—"

He closed his eyes and cursed himself silently. Of course she was bothered, she had been really close to Aurora.

 _“_ I know.” he said, “She wasn’t herself. She was sick, Elaine. Did you know that? I found out about this almost two years ago, I didn’t know at the time.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, carefully. “Maeve was the same way, that’s why Mab had me— Mab could have saved them both, or Titania if they had just let them. Mab was devastated. If you can believe that. And I—” he cast his thought at her again, the conversation obviously extremely unsuited for the ears of bystanders.

_Aurora was herself as she died. She was confused and lost, but I held her as she was dying. I didn’t let her die alone and scared. I know it isn’t a consolation but it’s all I can offer to you along with an apology._

Elaine didn’t try to blink away the tears that formed in her eyes this time, allowing them to run down her face. If anyone was watching, they didn’t interfere. “Sick?” she repeated. The feeling that word gave her was indescribable. It  _hadn’t_ been Aurora? It wasn’t her fault?

At his silent thought, she turned into him, leaning her head on his chest and allowing herself to cry a little.  _She was so beautiful, Harry,_ Elaine thought.  _She wasn’t human, not at all, but she was so beautiful. She tried to understand. She wanted to. She just … she tried so hard at everything and … she really wasn’t alone?_

He hugged her tight. _I know the Sidhe too, don’t forget that. I know how it is. How heartbreaking their beauty is. I can tell you everything about her ailment if you like but not now. Not with Maggie around._

Because he remembered what the Mothers had said. What Lea had said, what Mab had said. Even thinking about the Adversary was dangerous. Calling it by its name even more so. He wasn’t about to risk anything with his kid around.

_But I promise you that she was not alone. She knew I was there and that I held her. I promise Elaine. On my power._

Those words, that promise on his power, sent a calm through Elaine like she’d rarely known. She nodded, wiping her eyes and gently drawing away.  _We’ll talk later._

Maggie, as though sensing the conversation was over - which was probably exactly what she’d done - approached them again. “Are you okay?” she asked Elaine, somewhat uncertainly. “Did my daddy make you mad? Mr. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter sometimes get mad but it’s usually okay once they hug.”

Elaine blinked and looked down at the little girl’s earnest expression. “I’m fine, kid,” she said gently. She paused, then decided to brush over the ‘Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter’ part. “Me and your dad were just catching up and I was being a little bit silly.”

"Oh," Maggie said. "Good. So you’ll come out with us again?"

"Oh, um, I—"

"Daddy, can she?"

Harry paused and glanced at Elaine,

"Only if she wants to, Mags."

He really didn’t want to pressure her into anything especially after he felt her shifting to Maggie’s comment about Charity and Michael.

"Oh but do you want to?" Maggie insisted before Harry could stop her.

"Okay, I think you’ve had too much sugar indeed." Harry laughed nervously, "And I think it’ll be about bedtime soon."

"We’ll see what happens, Maggie," Elaine said, smiling at her and evading the question.

He led them to the checkout where they promptly ruined all three registers so they had to wait for a handwritten receipt and Harry ended up getting Elaine a Wendy figurine from Peter Pan and would hear no protest about it.

Elaine waited patiently through the all-too-familiar mess at the registers, and laughed when Harry presented her with the figurine.

"What’s funny?" Maggie demanded, obviously eager not to be left out of the joke again.

"Have you read Peter Pan?"

"I saw the movie," Maggie replied.

"Your dad should read you the story," Elaine said, glancing at him. "It’s very beautiful." She took a moment to remember the exact wording, a skill she’d learned long ago, back when Justin would insist on perfection. "It explains how _there was a time when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies_.”

"That  _is_ pretty,” Maggie decided. “So is that why it’s funny? Because Wendy knew faeries and so did you?”

Elaine nodded as they reached the car, opening the back door to allow Maggie to climb in. “Yep. That, and one more thing.” She looked back up at Harry again, giving him a faint smile. “I once knew a boy. a proud and insolent boy, that didn’t want to grow up.”

"What happened?" Maggie asked, as the two adults climbed into the front seats. Elaine glanced back at her and grinned.

"Well, he grew up, of course," she said. "Mostly."

"And now he’s working for Captain Hook." Harry said glumly and Maggie’s eyes widened.

"Why?"

"Because  of a little girl who didn’t deserve to be lost forever. But don’t worry. He’s still Pan. He’s just— scrubbing floors for Hook… You know. He’s not being evil."

"I see." Maggie said and looked at Elaine, "And what about his Wendy? Did he get that kiss?"

Elaine smiled, facing the front of the car as Harry started it up and began to drive. “Peter got Wendy’s fist ever kiss,” she said, “And Wendy got his. They traded them and promised each other that they’d keep them safe until it was time to swap back.”

Maggie yawned before she spoke again, clearly fighting away sleep in her eagerness to hear the story. “And did they swap back yet?”

"No," Elaine replied. "They’re keeping those kisses very safe for each other just now."

"But they  _will_ swap back, won’t they?” Maggie asked impatiently. “When?”

"Not yet," Elaine replied, and then paused in surprise at her own answer. Maggie, however, seemed more than satisfied by it.

"Daddy, I like Peter Pan," she said.

"I like him too, kid." he replied with a smile.

Not yet.

Not yet. He should have reacted else way at these words, protest. Say that he was taken but… to his surprise he didn’t. He set it aside on his mind. Elaine was a Wizard like him which meant their _yet_ could very well happen in two hundred years. Not that he expected to live that long with the kind of life he led.

"I need to make a stop before we get back." he announced and after a few detours he parked in front of a small bookstore. He got off the car and soon was back and gave one bag to Maggie.

"We’ll read them together, okay, Mags?" he asked and the girl nodded sleepily as she checked the two books in the bag.

"Tomorrow, Daddy. I’m tired."

"The one is ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’, of course." he explained to both of them, "The second is ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’ which is more about Elaine’s Peter."

 _I got it for you too._ he thought at Elaine passing her a small bag as well.

Elaine accepted the bag silently.  _Thank_ you, she thought. She hesitated for a moment, and added,  _I’m sorry about … I don’t know why I phrased that the way I did. Don’t take anything from it._

_Hm? phrased what?_ _ he sent  _ _ but  _ _ Maggie scolded them. _

"I’m not sleeping yet," Maggie said, sleepily. "You guys said you’d stop that."

"Sorry, Maggie," Elaine replied automatically. "We’ll stop now."

Maggie shifted in her seat, holding tight to her bag of books as she got comfortable. “No you won’t,” she replied. “But that’s okay.” And with that, the girl was asleep as the car headed back to her home.

Elaine waited a few moments before speaking again, quietly. “That’s some kid you got there,” she said.

He didn’t talk for a while after Maggie fell asleep but still wondered what Elaine meant. “Yeah, I think she likes you.”

When he was sure Maggie was breathing deeply he glanced at Elaine again,

"Phrased what?" he asked again keeping his eyes on the dark road.

Elaine was glad for the cover of darkness, because it meant he could barely see her face as she realised she’d made a big deal out of nothing and consequently brought on unnecessary embarrassment for herself. Which was doubly annoying, because Elaine didn’t  _get_ embarrassed. She just … didn’t, except in very rare circumstances.

"Not yet," she repeated, staring firmly ahead, internally cringing at the realisation he’d obviously brushed the comment off the second she’d made it. And she hadn’t. Hell’s bells, what was  _wrong_ with her today? “I just … I meant to say ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ or something. That’s all.”

"We’re here." he announced as he parked outside an American Dream™ house complete with white picket fence, a barbeque pit and a well tended lawn. "Please don’t Way out yet."

He picked Maggie in his arms and walked to the door, and when the door opened and a big huge bear almost jumped on Harry but stopped at the sight of the sleeping girl — Mouse. Harry got in and was back in less than five minutes and he waved at someone inside as the door closed.

He got in the car and closed the door behind him, the automatic light, long since fried, and he turned to Elaine, relieved she was still there.

"We are not dying at eighty, Elaine." he said simply, "Not even at ninety. Or a hundred, provided a demon doesn’t eat our faces."

He reached out and his hand curled around hers, “I am happy with Karrin don’t get me wrong but I—” he pursed his lips, “She’s closer to her fifties than her thirties by now. Best case scenario I have about fifty years with her. Worst case scenario, I die tomorrow because Mab has a headache.”

He placed his free hand on the wheel and looked ahead for a moment before turning to look back at her. “In fifty years we will both look as we do now. Perhaps we’ll have a few more grey hairs — no we will surely have more grey hairs but we will still be fairly young.” he squeezed her hand, “I did not dismiss your ‘yet’.”

Elaine was silent for a long time then. She didn’t say anything as Harry let go of her hand again, nor when he started up the car again to drive her back to their meeting point. She stared out the window, at Chicago, watching and waiting and remembering.

"Stars and stones, Harry, when did you get so eloquent?" she asked, her throat dry, but her lips turning up in unexpected amusement. Then, lightly, teasingly, she added "And I certainly  _hope_ I’m not still stuck with you in fifty years. You can speak for yourself about those grey hairs, too.”

"I don’t know why everyone thinks I’m a neanderthal. I’m _very_ eloquent.” he teased her. “You gotta be eloquent when around the fae, you know that.”

The previous heavy atmosphere had dissipated and there was only a light-hearted vibe now, one he didn’t get to experience very often anymore.

"I think mine might be grey by next week, considering how my life is going." he joked and glanced at her again as he drove. "And I sure as hell hope you find someone better than me. Not that it’s hard. Even if that means I never get to steal my kiss back."

They arrived at the designated spot about twenty minutes later, the conversation light and meaningless and friendly the whole way. When the car pulled into park, Elaine went to open the door, and then paused.

"I’ll be back soon," she said. "And I’ll call you about Maggie. We can sort it out, no problem. I’ll see you when I can."

She got out of the car, intending to go straight for the alley to open the Way, not wanting a long, drawn-out, goodbye. But after a few steps, she paused and turned back to the car, where Harry had - predictably - gotten out of the car to follow her. Escort her to her door, in a manner of speaking.

She walked back over to him. “I can manage,” she said, before putting her arms around him in a quick hug. It felt nice. Warm. Familiar. She pulled back, resting one hand on each of his arms, and looked up into his eyes. “About what you said earlier,” she said. “I have  _no_ doubt I’ll find someone else. I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. But finding someone  _better_ than you, Harry, would involve magic that even I don’t have.”

She reached up to kiss his cheek. “Take care of your cop, okay?” she said, then turned away again. Time to go home.

He really didn’t have nothing to say to her, nothing that would suffice at this moment but when she reached to kiss his cheek he turned his face an inch and kissed her in the corner of the mouth, where the lip begins to turn. It was not a sensual kiss but it was still more than a friendly peck too and by the moment he did it he had already pulled back with a grin and was already heading to the car.

"Decided to steal it back now." he called at her as he waved, then he got in the car and was gone.

 


End file.
